It’s a very short read but in case you don’t want to head over there, the word I chose is service.

Let me tell you how I ended up landing on the word service.

As you may recall, in 2014 I wrote a few rants, some of which can be found here, here and here – these posts were mostly jabs at the government.

The other night, I was flying off the handle again about our provincial and federal governments with my BFF. When she stopped me in my tracks by saying:

Look Di, it doesn’t matter which leader or party is in power. They’re all gonna have this sense of entitlement. They’re all going to eventually look after their own interests.

The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

They’re selfish.

I’m selfish.

You’re selfish.

It’s human nature.

The only person’s actions that you can control, are your own. Stop asking what the government is going to do. What are you going to do?

We both sat silent for a moment. A heavy feeling of hopelessness and sadness came over us.

Having sat with the heaviness of this for a few moments, we started to talk about what this can mean for us. We didn’t have complete agreement, but here were a few of my thoughts:

What right do I have to complain about the government for not doing something about the issues right in front of them, if I am not doing something about the issues right in front of me?

Sure, I’ve been involved with non-profits. And yes, I believe I’ve made a difference many times over. It was my job to do so. I was paid to do it and of course I’ve been passionate about it and have striven to do my best.

But there are so many people who feel alone, who are hurting, who are desperate for just one person to care enough to help them through right here in my neighbourhood, in my family, in my realm and ability to make a difference.

To be fair, I have done so on several occasions, yet there have also been times when I’ve looked away and kept going about my business; isn’t that what I’ve been accusing the government of doing?

I don’t know how my word will play out in 2015 – I’m a tad nervous about it. I’m not sure how I will balance my needs with the needs of others. But I do know that when I meet my Maker and give account for my choices, he’s not going to ask me who I voted for, or how I held my government, or anyone else for that matter, accountable.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

And that is how I came to choose the word service for 2015. Did you choose a word for the new year? If so, what’s your word?

Haha! Fellow blogger Louise also says her word chooses her Paula. I wonder if that isn’t true of all of us, at least sometimes. Last year I chose tenacity because I knew I was going to need it. As I think back, it’s entirely possible that this year service chose me this year.
Diana xo

My words for 2015 would be ‘gratitude, nature and a sense of wonder.’ I stole these from this beautiful video by Louie Schwartzberg (TED talk). Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast says: “let everyone you meet be blessed by you … just by your presence.” The video is ten minutes long, but it’s worth the view:

I’m touched that you see me that way Julie – thank you! I think that when you serve others you find happiness, you do get something back, don’t you think? I mean look at how you’ve been volunteering at the lodge…I can feel the joy when you write about that. ❤
Diana xo

It’s the small things that mean the most, I’ve discovered. When I was younger, I had grand ambitions to change the world (like you have had, I think). Sometimes I wore myself to a frazzle with my ambition to be of “service.” And now, because of my limitations, that’s no longer an option if I want to stay healthy.

But there are small things I can do, and try to do — right in my neighborhood, there are always people who need a small kindness which I’m in a position to provide. A lonely elderly person appreciates a ten minute chat. An immigrant woman who works 80 hours a week as a seamstress at minimum wage just to support herself and her son appreciates a Christmas card with a small cash gift, and the gift of friendship. (I’ll be getting to know her better this year, so that I can be in a position to help her find a better job, hopefully–one in which she is not being exploited. She’s a gifted seamstress and a hard worker). A frazzled mother with an overwrought toddler in the grocery store appreciates when I step aside to let her check out ahead of me. It’s a matter of noticing who needs a small kindness, and extending it.

I’ve been meditating today on “kindness,” — what it means, and how much easier it is to be sporadically kind to strangers than to be patiently and steadfastly kind to the people we live with, day in and day out. That’s the kindness I most need to humble myself and pay attention to.

I LOVE the way you set challenges for yourself and us.
My word for 2015 is “light”. That is what I wish for myself, and I do not generally make wishes for myself.
So I am hoping for LIGHT out of the darkness and the lifting (or LIGHTening) of the feeling of heaviness from my shoulders. No long lists of resolutions for me this year 🙂
I love your word for the year – service.
Now you can go back and put that in Val’s post (as what is in your future box).
best of luck with ‘the other bottom line’ for 2015.
You deserve for it to be a great success.

Lots of little people looking up at you; and as you peer into the box, you giving them that great big smile of yours which instantly puts them at ease as they feel they are no longer alone, they feel supported.

Great post, Diana. Yes, we need to make sure we’re taking care of what’s in front of us. It does seem like the rich keep getting richer. But when I remember Who really owns it all I feel better, cause I know it will eventually turn out permanently perfect. My 2014 word was hope. My 2015 one is trust. I’m planning on taking some steps that will require me to trust more and more in Providence.

I don’t choose my word — it always chooses me and this year, the word that found me for 2015 is “Flow”.

A good word for me to meditate on every day.

I see you as possessing a servant’s heart — and service as your natural state of being. I’m excited to read how the power of the word transforms your world in 2015. Blessings my friend and Happy New year!

What a wonderful post Diana! Thank you for all your inspirational posts and encouraging comments this year, and may every good and joyous thing be yours in this bright and brand new year! Happy New Years, with hugs! xo Cheers! Gina 🙂

I have never thought of choosing a word for the year, I think if I did I would chose “compassion” but anyone who knows me knows that word sounds like me………….what do you think………..now if I was choosing a word to reflect what type of person I will be in this new year then it would have to be ” determent” as in once I say No to something I will remain determent and not fold to pressure

Diana,
There is a painting of Christ on the cross. Quite unique in its distortion. Yet one must ask four questions as you look at Him hanging there. 1. Does he show wealth? No, he has been stripped of all he owned. 2. Does he have power? No, he is pinned to a cross. 3. Does he feel pleasure-no, he’s been beaten and hangs there gasping for air. 4. Does he know honor? No, he has been ridiculed and spat upon. He has none of those things that men and women seek in life. Yet what do you see? A happy man.
A man not a slave to worldly promises, but of heavenly promises.
That’s why you won’t see a politician upon a cross. Least of all, one who willingly went.
You’re year of service will bring you the riches not found in this world, but the next. Keep building THAT portfolio.
Happy New Year.
-Alan

Bill that is one of my favourite words, one that comes naturally to me. Service will be an interesting stretch for me – a stepping out of the comfort zone, so to speak.

I agree we can’t help everyone. Have you ever looked away though, knowing at the time that you shouldn’t? That’s what I’m challenging myself about. Those times where it’s right in front of my face and I can and I want to at some level and then don’t. ❤
Diana xo

Great post Diana! What a wake up call… and realization about human nature. I love how you are looking for balance between meeting your needs and the needs of others! What an empowering way to serve.
My word is compassion – for myself and others.
Happy New Year to you and yours!!
See you over the hump.
Val x

Yeah, governments are organizations, and the first rule for any organization (or any organism) is to survive. Which also involves your own survival in finding that balance between service and self.

Service is a wonderful word! In fact, isn’t it a big part of the Christian ethic, to be of service?

As an aside, one thing I like about my own past is that nearly all my jobs — paid or volunteer — have been some kind of service (as opposed to, say, selling things to make money). Certainly my 34-year career with The Company was entirely in the service sector: fixing things for others, teaching others, creating software for others. Not glamorous, but I always did see myself as “that guy in the basement who keeps the building running.” 🙂